Torsionally neutralized railway truck



March `20, 1945.

' INVETOR@ ffper 4 TTORNE ys.

Patented Mar. 20, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ICE 'FOR-SIONALLY' RAILWAY A Carl Breer.' Grosse Pointe Park, and Robert N.

Janeway, Detroit, Mich., assignors to Railroad Rolling Stock Patents Corporation, Highland Parli, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application August 5, 1943, Serial No. 497,434

(Cl. 10S- 190) 16 Claims.

This invention relates torailway car trucks, l

of a character adapted for high speed passenger service, and it is particularly directed to the provision of a truck in which heavy intermediate spring-suspended masses, such as the truck bolster and associated parts, are avoided, and wherein' the bolster and related parts are concurrently stabilized against torsional strains.

, It has `long been customary, in railway passenger trucks, to provide a truck frame including transversely disposed transom members resiliently suspended on the wheels and axles, to which are attached laterally movable swing hangers carrying a spring plan "-the plank in turn supporting the truck bolster through a second resilient system comprising leal' or coil springs. As is well understood, the car body is provided with a car bolster which engages the truck bolster through a center bearing and pin to have re1- ative turning motionj abouta vertical axis, and

also to have some rocking motion which is limited by engagement of the cooperating parts of the usual sidebearings. Such construction necessarily includes a substantial intermediate spring-suspended mass, beginning with the springs between the truck bolster and plank and terminating with the carbody itself. This mass, being vertically movable, may be set into sustained vibrations, de-

pending upon the actual vibration frequencies 'of the several parts, the spacing of the rail joints, 3 and the like.

When such vibrations occur, as they invariably will at some particular speed or speeds, they are necessarily transmitted'to the car body through the bolster springs. This is extremely unpleasant to the passengers and isalso severe on the equipment' itself. v

The elimination of the intermediate mass 'just referred to may be eiIectedQofcourse, by simply positioning the truck bolster directly on the side frames, a simplification which, in one form, has

body on its center bearing. as limited by the side been generally adopted forfreight service, whereinl lower speeds are the rule..and car vibration is not of vsuch serious consequence. Similarly, it

vmight be inferred that one could simply eliminate' the springs from the plank, and secure the plank and truck bolster together as in integral assembly. This, however, leads to` other complications. As one side or the other of the truck is elevated by passing overa rail joint, or by encountering some other irregularity, the'transverselydisposed transom or bolster is subjected to a twisting or torsional strain which is imparted tothe car body as an unpleasant rocking motion. 'To :some extent, the conventional spring plank construction minimixes this eiiect, and for that reason it has been commonplace. However, as just noted, this is at the expense of the vibrations to which an intermediate spring-suspended mass are subject.

According to the present invention, we 'propose 'the elimination of the intermediate spring-suspended mass in such manner as to eliminate both the vertical disturbances heretofore encountered,

and also the torsional strains developed by the alternative forms of construction just alluded to. Trucks embodying our invention accordingly have improved riding qualities and are capable of operation at high speeds, and they will be found to incorporate some or all of the following features:

First, the substance of the spring suspension SYS: tem between the car body and the wheels and Y axles isconcentrated between the transom frame and the side frames of the truck, and the customary spring suspension between the truck bolsterand plank is eliminated. Herein, the spring pla becomes merely a plank,'the truck bolster being solidly carriedl by the plank in such fashion that there is no relative vertical motion between these. parts. Limited lvertical motion between-the truck bolster and transom frame, occurring as an incident to the lateral swinging of the hangers. is of course still possible, but it is not this motion which is ture Just discussed.

Second, while there is novertical motion between the truck bolster and plank, there is nevertheless a rocking motion between these coin-` ponents, occurring about an axis extending longitudinally of the car body. Such rocking motion is not to be confused with therocking of the car contemplated by the feabearixigs, because the motion 'just referred tocccurs between dierent elements, and also takes place about a center of oscillation whichis in a low'erhorisontal plane. In connection with this feature, it may be here noted that thedescribed rocking action takes place without concurrent which enables the ca;- body 'to remain substan-` good geometry, and therefore a way to attain the stated objects of the invention most eiliciently. The rocking center of the truck bolster on the plank is longitudinally disposed and it is symmetrically located with respect to the rails,

main spring sets on the side frames, and the pivotal centers ofthe swing hangers on the transom frame. Further, the rocking center of the bolster is in a transverse horizontal plane or line which includes the pivotal centers of the lower ends ofthe hangersat their points of connection with the plank. The line of centers of the upper pivots of the swing hangers, on the transom l frame, also lies in a horizontal plane, and these centers are also located symmetrically with respect to the rails, main springs, and a vertical center line passing through the nominal center4 of gravity, of the car body and the solid pivotal support of the truck bolster on the plank, whichvertical axis also is the axis of the center bearing. Such line ofcenters of the upper pivots Y may also lie in the horizontal plane of thelonon the main spring suspension. Obviously, none gitudinal axis of rotation of thel transom frame V of these desiderata need be incorporated to a4 point where engineering and dimensional considerations must be ignored, but to the extent that these factors are given due consideration, to that extent will be resulting truck and car carried .thereby serve under high speed condi tions with neutralization of the customary disturbances.

Finally, it will be found in trucks embodying this invention, that they lend themselves readily to` the retention of numerous known features of acceptable railway practice, and that such thucks may be made with considerable savings in weight without sacrifice of strength. It should also be borne in mind that improvements over prior practices may be had by the adoption of parts, rather than the whole, of our invention, and it is aclcordingly intended that the appended claims should be the measure of the invention set forth in this specification, and that the foregoing re` view, and also the subjoined detailed description of typical embodiments, should be considered to be informative and illustrative, rather than limiting. A further consideration of the principles of the invention, and modes whereby they may be utilized in. practice, Will be made with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a transverse vsection of a known type filler block I3 comprising an upper cylindrical portion I 4 and a lower cylindrical portion I5 of reduced diameter. 'Ihe lower surface of the cylindrical portion I5 is of stepped construction and rests upon a similarly constructed stepped support I6, mounted upon a bracket composed of two arms I 6B which are secured to the body bolster I0.

The support I 6 is likewise provided with an annular stepped lower surface which rests upon a similarly stepped equalizing plate I1 which in turn, rests upon an upper hardened roller bearing plate I8. The plate I8 constitutes part of the center bearing which also comprises rollers I9 and a lower hardened bearing Aplate 2|). The plate 20 rests within a cup shape receptacle 22, the walls of which likewise confine the plates II and I8, and the roller members I9. The receptacle 22 is mounted upon a 'truck bolster 23 and transmits the weight of the car body thereto.

The usual center pin 24 extends through aligned openings in the filler block I3, support i6, plates I.'I, I8 and 20 and the receptacle 22 and serves to hold these members in alignment. Surrounding the lower cylindrical portion I5 of the filler block I3 is a sleeve type bearing memberf25 to which is secured the end of the drawbar 26 by which each vehicle is connected to the next adjacent vehicle of a train. The usual side bearings 21 serve to prevent unde tipping of the body bolster I0 with respect to the truck bolster 23. This type ofl bearing arrangement is quite satisfactory, but it should be made clear that other center'bearings may be used without departure from the present invention.

The truck bolster 23 is provided with a centrally -disposed depending portion 23a., integrally connected to the main casting 23, which terminates-in an arcuate surface '28 adapted to rest and to roll on a second arcuate surface 28a, of larger radius than the surface 28, as bestshown in Fig. 3. The surface 28a is formed on the upper portion of a block 29 which is disposed within a recess 29a in the central part of a transversely disposed supporting member or plank 30. The block 29 may be maintained inspaced relationshipv with the walls and bottom of the recess 29a by layers of some fairly hard fibrous gasket material, such as rubberized fabric, or a, practically solid or incompressible connection may be used. It will be noted that the pivotall connection 28 ,extends longitudinally with respect to the car bolster I0, and the word nominal is believed Fig. 3 is a detail of the solid bearing connection between the truck bolster and plank, drawn on an enlarged scale.

In the drawing we have illustrated av car body I bolster II) comprising a casting II o'r other suitable supporting frame provided with a centrally disposed opening I2 within which is welded a to be correctly employed, since variations in the amount and distribution of the car lading displace the center-of gravity to a certain extent.

.The plank 30 extends laterally substantially the width of the truck; and itis pivotally supported at its ends upon the lower ends of swing links 3|., which are also pivotally supported at their upper ends, for lateral swinging movement about longitudinally extending axes, on the transom portion of the truck frame 32, as indicated by the reference numeral 31a. The truck frame 32 is provided withl laterally extending portions 33 which rest upon a plurality of coil springs 3d, positioned between the axles (not shown) which are incorporated in the usual manner in the truck assembly. 'Ihe coil springs 3l rest upon an in- .terrnediate member 35, of relatively light Weight l which are connected through the 'usual axles and Journal bearings (not shown). It will be'seen that the spring sets 34, 36 constitute the resilient `suspension system for the transom and all parts carried thereby, thus eliminating substantial intermediate spring suspended masses, particularly between the car body and the plank 30. These springs are symmetrically spaced with respect to the median plane, and they are, of course, independent of the bolster 23 and the plank 38. The pivotal connection between the bolster 23 and the plank 30, provided by the arcuate surfacs 28 and 28a is best located substantially in the plane of the connections between the swing links 3| and the supporting member 30, in order to avoid the application of lateral disturbances ofthe bolster by rocking movement of the supporting member. That is to say, the line of centers of the links 3| with the plank 30 passes through the pivot 28, and it is at substantially as previously described. In other words, if the angularrelation of the bolster about the pivot 23 does not change, a rise in one side of thebo1 ster due to angular movement of the moving links 3| will mean a' similar rise in the other side of the bolster. If on the other hand, the rise in one side of the bolster results from angular movement about the pivot 28, then the other side will right angles to the median plane therethrough when the system is at rest. Similarly the line of centers of the upper pivots 31a of the hangers `on thetransom is also horizontal, and therefore parallel to the lower line of centers, and the upper line is moreover adjacent the rocking axis of the transom with respect to the side frames 31. The pivotal centers for the hangers are also symmetrically located with respect to the median plane, so that -any disturbance of the resulting `quadrilateral linkage may occur about the pivot '28 as a center of oscillation. It has already been `wardly facing shoulders 40 -disposed in spaced relationshipto the central axis thereof, and stabilizingcoil springs 4| are disposed intermediate the shoulders 40 and opDOsitely disposed upwardly facing shoulders 42 onthe transversely arranged supporting member adjacent the points at which it is supported by the swing links 3|. In addition, and if desired, the truck bolster 23 is connected to the plank 30 by means of shock absorbers 43, disposed one on eachside ofthe centerline of the truck, as shown. These light springs, the shock absorbers, or equivalent damping devices, are intended to limit the degree or amplitude through which the plank oscillates, and to suppress any tendency toward sustained vibration. While they may carry part of thel load, and distributev it over the plank.'it will be apparent that relativevertical movement between the plank 38 and the bolster 23 is impossible. since the parts are structurally or practically inelastic and they are interconnected at the pivot 28.-

What has been described includes a rectilinear linkage, the four elements of which are pivotally interconnected, with a loading member or bolster in turn .pivoted vthrough a solid or non-resilient connection to-one of the links. Hence, if one side. of the bolster starts to rise vertically. the solid connection, and the swing hanger linkage, will constrain the other side to follow the same. course.

be correspondingly lowered. 'Io maintain proper functioning, the springs 4| may be preloaded to such degree that the released spring 4| is under some residual compression when its counterpart on the opposite side of the pivot 28 has its coils bottomed by an oscillation of extreme magnitude. In the operation of the truck illustrated, any irregularity in elevation of one rail, poor rail joint or the like, causes an upward movement of the wheels on one side of the truck. This movement is transmitted through the side frame and, although cushioned by the springs 3-6 and 34, is transmitted thereby, in diminished amount, to the transom frame 32. From the transom frame 32, it is transmitted by the swing links 3| to the supporting member V30. As one side of the plank rises, the opposite side falls, and the member 30 pivots about its central point 28 permitting the truck bolster to remain substantially in its original position. -The supporting member 30 merely rocks on its pivot with respect to the bolster and substantially no torsional movement is transferred to the car body. As the rocking surface 28 i'sof/ smaller radius than the surface 28, thesurface 28 rocks or rolls, rather than slides, on the surface 28, and no lubricationis necessary. Any verticalmovement that is transmitted will tend to raise the entire car body uniformly rather than oneside only, and can at the most be only a fraction of the movement imparted to the wheels on' one side of the truck, which necessarily results in anL improvement in the riding qualities of the car.

In Fig. 2 we lhave illustrated a modied form of our invention in which the truck bolster 23 is provided on the under side of its central por` tion with a solidv pivot member which also serves as an anchorage for the central portion of a transversely disposed multi-leaf spring 5|, and-which is also provided, on its lower surface,

with a convex curved or arcuate pivot portion- In this instance the spring '5| may be preloaded tov support any desired portion of the total load, preferably not more than fifty percent. and the friction between the individual leaves of the spring 5I serves to dampen rocking andvibratory movement of the member 23. The truck bolster and the plank are nevertheless vertically immovable with respect to eachother, because the rectilinear linkthe principles and mode ofv operation previously described. I

, YThis specification contains subject matter in common with our previously filed-and'copending 'The relative motion is therefore purely arcuate,

The ends of the spring 5| rest and slide on flat surfaces 55 on the ends of the supporting memberr 54.

application, Serial No. 379,024, led February 15, 1941, and we assert all lawful .benefits arising from our earlier ling date.

We claim: 'i 1. In a railway car truck, the combination with the wheels and axles and a transom resiliently mounted thereon, of swing hangers depending from the transom and pivoted for lateral swinging movement with respect to longitudinally extending axes, a plank solidly carried by the hangers, a truck bolster solidly carried by the plank,

said plank and bolster having a pivotal support` ing connection at substantially the median plane of the transom, said pivotal connection being located below the line of centers of the pivotal connections of the upper ends ofthe swing hangers to the transom, the axis of the pivotal connection between the plank and bolster being horia zontally disposed, substantially parallel to said longitudinally extending axes of said swing hangers, and in or adjacent to said median plane.

2. A railway truck comprising a truck frame including a transversely disposed transom, axles, wheels mounted on the axles at opposite ends thereof, a spring suspension system interposed between the wheels and axles and-the transom for resiliently supporting the transom, spaced swing hangers pivoted on and depending from the transom, a plank carried by the hangers at the lower ends thereof, a truck bolster mounted on the plank, a structurally rigid pivot connection between the bolster and plank and constituting a supporting `and mounting means for said bolster on the plank, said pivot connection having a longitudinal axis, saidi spring suspension system being spaced from and independent of said v plank, bolster, and connection, and means for limiting the angular displacement between the 1 bolster and the plank permitted by said conl nection.

3. In la railway car and truck assembly, a car 'body having a center of gravity, a car bolster having a bearing portion disposed below the center of gravity, av car truck including a truck bolster upon which the car bolster is mounted for rotary motion about ay vertical axis, a transom betweenfthe bolstery and plank and topreclude relative vertical motion therebetween.

5. A railway car truck comprising wheels and axles and a transom frame, a spring suspension system including springs positioned between the wheels on each side of the truck and supponting the transom frame, swing hangers symmetrically spaced with respect to a median vertical plane through the transom `frame and pivotally mounted upon and depending from said frame, a, plank solidly carried by said hangers at the lower ends thereof, the line of centers of the upper pivots of the. hangers being substantially horizontally disposed and parallel to y vations and movements of the transom frame,

and means for limiting the amplitude of the oscillations of the plank. y y

6. A railway car truck comprising wheels and axles, spring suspension sets, and means for positioningv said spring Sets between'the wheels on opposite sides-of the truck, a, transversely disposed transom resiliently carried by said spring sets, swing links pivotally mounted on and de-` pending from the transom, a plank solidly andpivotally carried by the links at the lower ends thereof, the transom, links, and pla-nk defining a, pivotally interconnected rectilinear linkage, a bearing point on the plank between the swing links, a truck bolster including la, structurally rigid depending' -portion solidly and pivotally mounted on the plank at said bearing point, the pivots of said linkage having longitudinally extending axes whereby the linkage may .swing laterally of the truck, and whereby disturbances of the linkage causedby relative vertical movements of the'wheels on thefopposite sides of the truck may be resolved by oscillation y.of the plank about said bearing point, said linkageandl said solid pivotal mounting between the bolster and plankA precludlng relative vertical motion between the bolster and plank, and means for limtion being positioned below the center of gravity of the car body and substantially in a perpendicular planeincluding said lvertical axis, and a spring suspension system remote from the bolster and plank for mounting the transom with respect to v the wheels and axles of the truck.

rigid depending portion bearing upon said-'plank said portion being further rotatably supported on the plank thereby to provide for a rocking action iting the'amplitude of oscillations of the plank with respect tothe bolster, said spring sets being spaced from said linkage and plank thereby to eliminate an intermediate spring-suspended mass including said'bolster.

v 7. In 9, railway car truck having wheels and axles and a, truck frame including a transversely disposed transom member, springs interposed between the wheels and axles and transom member to resiliently support the same, swing hangers symmetrically disposed withrespect to a vertical medial plane. passing through the transom member and depending from the transom member, a plank mounted on the lower ends of the swing hangers, a truck bolster having a structurally rigid depending portion solidly mounted on the plank by means-of a pivotal connection, said connection being such as to enable the plank andlbolster to oscillate withrespect to each Aother and being located substantially in or adjacent to said plane, said plane moreover including the nominal center of gravity of a car body adapted to kbe supported on the upper portion of said` truck bolster, and other pivotal connections between the ends of the'plank and hangers and the hangers and the transommember, said last named pivotal connections being so located with respectto each other and the pivotal connection between the truck bolster and plank as to enable the plank to osclllate with respect to the bolster in response to relative vertical displacements .between the wheels on opposite sides of the truck, thereby to minimize torsional strains on the bolster, said springs constituting the suspension sys- .tem for said truck whereby intermediate springsuspended masses are eliminated.

8. A railway car assembly including `a, body and a truck comprising axles andl wheels thereon, side frame members extending longitudinally between the axles on opposite sides oi the truck, a transversely disposed transom, spring sets interposed between the side frames and the ends of the transom to support the transom with re spect to the wheels and axles, said spring sets being symmetrically positioned with respect to va vertical median plane passing through the transom, swing hangers pivotally mounted on the transom for swinging movement about longitudinally extending axes, said hangers having their pivots symmetrically located with respect to said plane, said hangers depending from the transom, a plank positioned laterally of the truck and solidly carried by the lower ends of said hangers, the connections between the plank and said lower ends being also pivotal, a bolster positioned on the plank, said bolster being structu` rally rigid and having a depending portion pivoted on the plank for rocking movement about a longitudinal axis disposed substantially in said median plane,. the line of centersof the'conneotions between the plank ends and the lower 'ends of the hangers being substantially hori- `axis lying in said plane, the car body being adapted to be mounted on said center bearing. the center oi gravity of said car body also lying ladjacent said median plane, and means for limiting oscillatory movement between ythe plank and the bolster.

9. In a railway truck, a truck frame, two laterally spaced swing links pivotally mounted on said frame, a laterally extending. supporting member pivotally mounted at each end on `one of said swing links, a bolster member pivotally mounted centrally on said supporting member and provided with a center vbearing adapted to support a car body, the axis of said pivotal mounting beingsubstantially horizontal and extending generally longitudinally of the car body in the plane of the pivotal-mountings of the supporting member on the swing links.

10. Ina railway truck, a truck frame, two laterally spaced swing links pivotally mounted on said frame, a laterally extending supporting member pivotally mounted on each end on-one ot.

said swing links, a bolster member pivotally mounted centrally on said supporting member and provided with a center bearing adapted to movement of said bolster on said supporting member. a

11. In a railway truck, a truckframe, two laterally spaced. swing links pivotally mounted on said frame, a laterally extending supporting j member pivotally mounted at each end on one of said swing links, a bolster member pivotally mounted centrally on said supporting member and provided with a center bearing adapted to support a, car body, the axis of said pivot being substantially horizontal and extending generally longitudinally of the car body, and means enl gaging said bolster member and said supporting member adapted to yieldingly resist pivotal movement of said bolster on said supporting member comprising a, multiple leaf spring assemgaging saidbolster member and said supporting member adapted to yieldingly resist pivotal movement oi said bolster on said supporting member comprising a multiple leaf springassembly secured at its central portion to said bolster V member and engaging with its ends said supporting member adjacent its points of support on 35 said swing links.

0 oi said swing links, a bolster member pivotally 1g member and provided with a "center bearing 13. In a railway truck, a, truck frame, two

laterally spacedswing links pivotally mounted on said frame, a laterally extending supporting member pivotally mounted at each end on one mounted centrally on said supporting member and provided with a center Ibearing adapted to support a car body, the axis of said pivot being v substantially horizontal and extending generally longitudinallyof the car body, and means engaging said bolster member and said supporting member adapted to yieldingly resist pivotal movement of said bolster on'said supporting `member comprising a multiple leaf spring assembly secured at its central portion to said bolster member and engaging With its ends said supporting member adjacent itspoints of support on said swing links, said leaf spring assembly'` being adapted to support a portion of the load of said bolster member.

14. In a railway truck, a truck frame, two laterally spaced swingdinks pivotally mounted on said frame, a laterally extending supporting member pivotally mounted at each end on one of said swing links, a bolster member pivotally Amounted centrally on said supporting member and provided with a centerbearing adapted to support a carA body, the axis of said pivotal mounting being substantially horizontal and extending generalhl longitudinally of the car body in the plane of the pivotal .connections between said supporting member and said swing links, and damping means connected to said bolster and to said supporting member at points removed from the pivotal support therebetween.

15. In a railway truck, a truck frame, a supporting member mounted on said truck frame by means of swing links, and a truck bolster member pivotally mounted on said supporting adapted to support a car body, said pivotal mounting comprising an upwardly facing recess of arcuate cross-section on said supporting meml ber and a downwardly extending projection of arcuate contour mounted on lsaid bolster and adapted to t into said recess, the radius of the recess being greater than the radius of the projection and the axes of both arcuate surfaces extending generally longitudinally of said truck.

16. In a railway truck, a truck frame, two laterally spaced swing'links pivotally mounted on said framea laterally extending supporting member pivotally mounted at each end on one of said swing links, a bolster member pivotally mounted centrally on said supporting member and provided with a center bearing adapted to support a car body, the axis of said pivotal mounting being substantially horizontal and extending generally longitudinally of the car body substantially in the plane of the connection between said swing links and said supporting member, and means engaging said lbolster member and said supporting vmember adapted to yieldingly resist pivotal movement of said bolster on said supporting member comprisingpreloaded springs interposed between said bolster and said supporting member and adapted to bear a portion of the load on said bolster member.

CARL BREER.

ROBERT N. JANEWAY. 

